With Half-Life fans making love to copies of The Orange Box everywhere, Valve is now turning our attention to the final installment of its current Freeman-flavored story arc. As the final chapter of the Half-Life 2 series, Episode Three is looking to end the series with a bang, as Valve confirms.
"We're going to try and do something pretty ambitious for that project," stated Valve's David Speyrer. Unlike with Episode One, Episode Two didn't come with a trailer for the next and final installment. Speyrer stated that this was because the company didn't want to commit to anything yet.
"If you look at the Episode Two trailer that we shipped with Episode One there's some pretty radical difference between what you see there and see in finished game," Speyrer explained. "That's really an artefact of making a trailer for a product that's still in heavy production. You just don't know where you're going to end up."
I've not reached the episodic parts of Half-Life 2 yet, but fans are eager to point out that the franchise only improves the more it continues. If Valve is looking to top its already much loved and applauded prequels, then we're in for a complete and utter treat.
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21 comments + 95764 views
I want to be able to pre-pre-pre-pre order this on steam already.
So how am I going to get this on 360? Orange Box 2 containing HL2:Ep3, Left 4 Dead, CS:Source, DoD:Source? Because, I hope not.
I have to finish the fight! Ah fuck...
Yup, and it will take them 3 years to finish it.
@OrangeGoblin- if they put out an Orange Box 2 with those games in it for $60 I would be all over it. Esp. if it comes out at the same time as Ep. 3. That would be the best value in gaming going.
Hexfix: Yeah, it takes a long time to make something good.
Companion Box with Ep3 for $60, while you get HL2, Ep1, Ep2 and Portal with it once more. Pay for the same shit 3 times, yeaaaah!
Glee!
I recently beat ep2 and I have to say I can't wait for ep3. The thrill that game was the last few fights was just worth playing. I wonder if they're gonna have a portal gun.
Yay! I like Half-Life now!
Ehh, I'll be too busy playing Team Fortress 3.
wewtness. I can't want to see the story arc, let alone any individual 'wow' moments.
Good thing you can buy probably buy it individually on steam...unless it comes boxed with a portal sequel.
Does this mean no more half life games after Ep3? Or are they just going to finish the current story arc
valve has almost missed the point about episodic content, like zeropunctuation pointed out. releasing content more frequently.
its gonna take even longer for episode 3 to come out than episode 2, and episode 2 had a long time coming. lest we forget, the longer the waiting period is for a valve game, the better the game. simple math.
Look forward to it, sometime in 2010.
From what I remember from interviews and commentary, Episode 2 started development at about the same times as Episode 1. So, I guess we're going to be waiting quite a bit for Episode 3, although the Ep1 team should have at least started it.
I can't wait.
@xper
yeah, because the gap between half life and half life 2 was non existent.
@emotaku
i don't understand your sarcasm
I can wait....
....is it done yet?
It better be epic. After all, it is the best video game series ever that stars Rivers Cuomo. Epic Sauce is required.
Seriously though, those are some hella durable glasses. I need me a pair.
I dunno, some people can spit out games fast that are good too, i think valve is a bunch of slow guys who over think things, and take to much time. i think their games are over hyped. halflife was great. but halflife 2 to me wasn't that great.. oh well. i hope episode 3 is good.
I wonder if this one will have fulcrum puzzles.
VALVe is pondering their episodic content approach.
After Episode 3 they will make wicked powerpoint graphs and bars with surveys to their costumers to see how they will work in the future.
I am pleased with their approach, it did take a bit after HL2 for the first episode to come out in 2007. But it would take more if they made a HL3. And this year we got the second one.
Having new HL2 adventures each year is more than enough for me.
@hex
I think this is stemming from a problem why no one likes you. You don't like anything, therefore, are unable to be receptive of our love for you, so in return, we shower you with equal hate.
yeah... I can understand why some people would be attached to the original Half-Life, but to say HL2 'wasn't that great' is like calling Citizen Kane a 'halfway decent flick' or Crime and Punishment 'so-so.' When it comes down to it, it's difficult to complain about anything Valve's put out. Even if you're not personally inspired by it, you have to respect the meticulous attention to detail that the Valve devs have. If you want to call that 'slow and lazy...' well, keep buying Madden every year I guess. While I was annoyed as anyone when Ep 2 was continually delayed, it was worth it to me. Plus, HL2 and 2 episodes have come out in the space between Halo 2 and Halo 3. That deserves respect.
I liked half life 2. i just didn't think it was "ALL THAT" it was hyped to be.
like i said. i say something, and i get personally attacked on here. it is the way of bloggers.. oh well. waste your hate on me.. :)
I HOPE YOUR FAMILY DIES SOON HEXFIX. OH MY GOD HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE FUCK YOU FUCK YOU
Was that enough hate? :D
DAMN STRAIGHT IT WILL BE EPIC!
I hope they're able to work GLaDOS into Ep 3 somehow, given the Aperture Science connection established in Ep 2, even if they don't put a Portal gun in. In any case, I'm really looking forward to murdering me some Combine Advisors.
@hextroll93
Didn't you leave? *eyeroll*
hexfix> I think Valve is one of a few development houses that really put time in to their products, that really take pride in to what they release. The only other comparable house I can think of is Blizzard.
I'm not that in to Half Life myself, its just not my cup of tea (I do love TF2 though)... but calling Valve's games 'over hyped', made by a 'bunch of slow guys' is disrespect that should only be reserved for the 3d Realms and Guerilla Games of the world.
@ WDot. I hope the team behind Episdoe 1 didn't start it. Get the guys from Episode 2 back on it. That one was MUCH better. Episode one didn't really do much for me. I loved Episode 2....
I'm just curious how this will be released. PC gamers will obviously get it via Steam, but will there be a retail configuration for 360 owners? Will Valve release an Orange Box +? And hypothetically, if they do, will you be able to trade in your old copy and have your saves carry over to the new version? Or will Episode 3 be DLC?
Also, I think part of the reason Episode 2 took so long was because they released TF2 and Portal with it.
Here's what I predict. 360 gamers buy a PC to play this.
Well a nice bit of knowledge about EP2, Portal and TF2 is that the one of the script writers behind Psychonauts co-authored these newest releases. No doubt thats where so much of the great dialogue and character moments came in that made these releases special.
@13 That aside, Yatzee's video blog critiques get taken with a grain of salt. Yes episodic content is expected to be frequent but then again an epic novel or movie series takes a long time to produce. Just the facts of developing quality.
Did Hexfix call Valve slow? To this day, nothing can really compare to Half-Life 2's single player campaign. Not your previous lackluster game Resistance and I doubt Haze will do anything for the genre (I'm sorry, but it looks generic and Korn made a soundtrack for it). It takes time to produce something that will leave you putting down your mouse and keyboard/controller and have you take everything you've just done at a slow pace. Because it was that great.
What do you think the highest scored game is overall?
No, it's not Final Fantasy and it's not Halo (despite my love for it). It's Half-Life 2. That says something. The fact that everyone collectively said, this shit is awesome.
And I know you're still bearing the scars left by a certain someone from Valve calling the PS3 a waste of everyone's time. I know it burns, baby, but we must move on.
And now I wait for your conspiracy theories. Valve must of paid everyone off, right? Even me.
Oh, and I want Half-Life 2: Episode 3 has some DLC. Hopefully they'll create the console version right along side the PC, or at least release them at the same time. As a console player, I'm a newly converted Half-Life lover and I want love from my new bestest friends at Valve.
Maybe by the time HL2:e3 comes out, it can be released as DLC itself - I realize that downloading from Steam and XBLA aren't the same thing, but digital distribution is getting stronger, and pipes are getting bigger all the time.
@ twiggy
that will eventually happen. that you can purchase anything online, and have it in an instant. for ep:3 though, not sure. but we're going there, definitely
@hexfix
Dude, take a look around at everyone else. Notice how almost no one is getting hated on? Except you? Yeah, it's because you've been a fanboy dick for as long as you've been here. Stop hating and everyone else will eventually stop hating back. I don't really have anything personal against you, I just wish you were a little more fair and a little less obnoxious. Whatevzzzz.
epsiode 3 FTW!!
Can't wait! I reckon it'll probably be shipped digitally over live. If not I hope it comes in another 'Box' with Counter Strike 2 - which is blantly in development ;-)
People complaining about the length of time HL development takes probably don't think about how much effort it actually is to do the kind of gameplay Valve does. Stripping away cutscenes and relying on realtime event exposition requires thought (which Hexfix called overthought) and a lot of effort. Valve has to think about likely player positions and choreograph events accordinly, it has to work hard to create a completely seamless experience, it takes a lot of time to make something that well crafted. Remember, BioShock spent a long time in development too, with a very similar style.
These types of games are so rarely seen because most developers won't put the time and effort in. It's somewhat saddening that when a company DOES put that kind of energy and time into a title, it gets mocked for it. Pretty sad indeed.
Wheres my Sin 2 episode???? *weeps*
Kyousuke Nanbu
[quote]Lord knows how far it is and the hype train has already begun, its gonna be as shitty as HL2 and its episodes where yet its still gonna sell a gajillion copies and heaps praise will be showered upon it, I will truly never understand Half Life.[/quote]
I think you mis-clicked somewhere and ended up lashing out about something else, maybe Jericho or the Haloz. Cant imagine the kind of game that'd meet your standards of story, game play or quality. In the sea of 'shitty' that is so much of the game industry, there isn't a lot out there to match the series value for value.
Well said, Mr. Sterling.
I'm actually hoping this next one doesn't arrive for at least another year. I want Half- life to be done right, not right now. I never thought that Valve would be able to pull off episodic games after episode two was first pushed back. If Valve continues to deliver quality, I'm happy to wait as long as it takes them. Let's hope we get episode three by summer '09.
I hate to be the one to have to say it, but development time is always an issue, and honestly Mr Sterling, it needs to be as addressed in a better fashion by the industry, not just passed back to the people paying for the product in a "we just aint got the time" style reasoning.
If you go back and look at the system requirements for HL, then HL2, and then Orange box, I can honestly say you would need to have a new system for each game pack to maximize the experience (and perhaps even a technology refresh for the HDR in Lost Coast). Because we aren't all rock-star quality game developers, or Nintendo, where people just toss money at our feet, and our PC's in the real world don't just evolve like a they been hit by the AllSpark, we have to fuel the constant upgrade cycle with blood, sweat and cold hard cash.
The length of the development cycle always seems just long enough for it to rely upon a new technology that is equivalent to a whole day worth of this work they require you do in order to craft the cash, or worse still, the investment in an entire new system (even for system builders, no cheap feat, try level grinding your way up to that one). The whole time, the console set just gets new game after new game, only having to move to a better seat to enjoy the next installment of a game. Heck, up to and including my PS3, all my consoles combined haven't cost as much as the last 2 computers I've built for myself.
In the end, the issue is a mixture of normal human impatience (i.e. we all gots it) and the rareness of cash as a standard drop from killing the local monsters (did you know that rats DON'T really carry gold coins?), as well as a splash of "Attempt to maximize profit, including profit potential, while minimizing expenditure across the bottom line. At the same time, dissolving the risk of longterm development in the assurances of a Triple-A class title, associated media blitz and maintaining a shallow pool of employees"... or something of the sort.
And the constant upgrade requirement issue is one reason why all of the good non-FPS/RTS games are on consoles now. :(
hey Half Life was, is and will be my fav game in the whole world... nobody can say that it is lame...and about Episode 3..from what I know the launch date is around April'08...saw thet on a web page...forgot the addres.
anyway...hope it is the right release date...and not '09 :D
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